ZEFR Looks to Expand Advertising Power Beyond YouTube

ZEFR, a video monetization platform, has acquired Engodo according to a report in TechCrunch. ZEFR has traditionally been a video monetization platform that has focused on YouTube. The company currently provides insights and software solutions so that brands can create more impactful media and better connect with their consumers.

They currently focus on two products: brand management and rights management which includes:

Brand Management Suite:

• Brand ID- allows brands to identify conversations about their brand and engage in the conversation
• Channel ID- allows brands to create an effective YouTube channel
• Performance Marketing- gives brands the tools to reach consumers with targeted advertising.

Rights Management enables studios or labels to:

• Protect their assets on YouTube
• Maximize the monetization of copyrighted content
• Understand how content is being used across YouTube

With the addition of Engodo, ZEFR is looking to expand their capabilities beyond video and YouTube. Engodo is a "social influencer advertising platform" that connects brands or agencies with "influencers" or content publishers who create content across different media networks on behalf of brands.

The acquisition will allow ZEFR to expand their monetization beyond YouTube and provide advertisers with insights across numerous channels. As companies look to create native advertising and directly connect with their consumers, they can now look to ZEFR to assist them in developing effective media advertising across platforms.

Sources: 
ZEFR Has Acquired Social Advertising Startup Engodo, Techcrunch.com
Engogo.com
ZEFR.com

Building Civil Society By Making Money Online

While we know that internet advertising offers tremendous business potential, display ads and other online marketing tools are playing a critical role in building civil society and the social sector. In previous generations, small non-profits required capital to start fundraising programs and build a base of support, limiting new organizations. Today, with relatively little money, people can launch efforts to promote all kinds of change.

This blossoming of civil society has helped countless worthy causes find their base, and has brought new and diverse issues to the forefront of public consciousness. It's also made a significant impact on financing for non-profits. In the past, small donors have been expensive to maintain, coming in primarily through the mail and telemarketing. While low-level donors collectively can add up to big money, the investment -- even for organizations with large existing bases of support -- has been very high. Many non-profits have given up acquisition, effectively dooming their programs to long-run failure.

But these days, minimal investments can offer pay-off from in acquisition. Blackbaud's 2011 Donorcentrics Report indicates that gifts acquired online are, on average, larger. They tend to come from households with higher incomes, and have much larger cumulative giving.

This is an especially critical renaissance of acquisition coming at a time when the population of major donors is aging. Today's micro-philanthropists are tomorrow's major donors. Any organization that doesn't understand that today's continuum of giving starts with social media, display ads and online donations will lose money in the generational shift of wealth.

There is a flip side to the non-profit bonanza online: it is leading to a proliferation of charities doing similar work and competing for the same finite philanthropic dollars. Many of these organizations could join forces to make an even bigger impact. Nonetheless, it's a particularly exciting time to be thinking about revenue generation in the non-profit space.